Top Attractions in Malaysia

Symphony Lake Water Show at Petronas Towers

Last updated: January 3, 2020

First visit: December 2012

My Country #27

In December 2012, I was able to visit Malaysia for the first time, together with the Singelresor group, making this South East Asian land my 27th visited country. Our trip started in Kuala Lumpur and from there we visited Melaka, Cameron Highlands, Penang and Langkawi. Last month, I was again with the Singelresor group on a trip to this beautiful country although this time after staying for a couple of nights in Kuala Lumpur, we flew to Sarawak and Sabah located on the island of Borneo. Here are some of my tips on how to make the most of your trip in this extraordinary country, as per our group's itinerary.

Istana Negara in Kuala Lumpur, is the official palace of His Majesty The Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

National Monument, a sculpture built to commemorate those who died in Malaysia's struggle for freedom

Mardeka Square, this is where the Malaysian flag was raised for the first time

Petronas Towers: This is the icon of Kuala Lumpur and definitely not to be missed.

Symphony Lake Water Show

Aquaria KLCC

KLCC Park

Kuala Lumpur China Town, based in Petaling Street is where you can buy almost everything you need

Royal Selangor Club was founded by the British in 1884

Semenggoh Wildlife Center, where we saw Annuar, the only Orangutan who came during the 10am feeding session. We were told by our guide before coming to this center not to have high expectations since other tourists have not seen any orangutan during their visit. I guess we got lucky;)

Sarawak Museum, built by Charles Brooke, the White Rajah of Sarawak. This is a very interesting museum which includes displays of their old culture like headhunting, etc.

Fort Margherita, is an old fort in Kuching built in 1879 by Charles Brooke.

The word "kuching" means cat in Malay Language so a visit to this Cat Statue is never to be missed when visiting Kuching.

Proboscis monkey or long-nosed monkey, they can only be found here in Borneo. The first time I saw them were actually during our trip to Brunei Darussalam last year.

A visit to the Iban tribe and spending a night with them at their Menyang Tais Longhouse: This has been an extraordinary experience for me staying with the Iban tribe. The longhouse where we stayed has 13 families and the chief was actually very kind. So how long will this longhouse last? Probably 2-3 more generations, according to our guide. The chief's children who are all grown up now are all studying in the city and only come here during Christmas, etc so chances are they won't be living here in the future.

Tun Mustapha Tower: Formerly known as the Sabah Foundation Building, this building was considered as one of three buildings in the world based on a "hanging" design concept when it was completed in 1977.

City Mosque in Kota Kinabalu, is a vey nice mosque which reminded me of the mosque we visited in Brunei because of the waters that surround it.

Mount Kinabalu: with an elevation of about 4,095 meters, this is just so beautiful.

Kinabalu Park: This is where you can find different kind of orchids including the smallest one in the world (on the picture above).

Poring Hot Spring: Aside from the hotspring, you can also enjoy the canopy walk.

The world's largest flower: Rafflesia is considered as the world's largest flower and what makes it very interesting is that it takes months for the bud to develop and once the flower starts to bloom it dies after several days, approximately seven days. We were lucky to have our guide heard of the news from other guides about this flower blooming and since it was located not far from where we were, we immediately went to see it. This Rafflesia has a diameter of about 90cm. Seeing this very rare flower was one of the coolest things that happened to us during this trip.

Malacca (Melaka) is known as the "historic state". A very charming city considered as a UNESCO world heritage site.

Jonker's Walk night market

Saint Paul's Church Ruin

Christ Church Melaka: this 18th century Anglican church is the oldest functioning Protestant church in Malaysia.

Taman Negara National Park Canopy Walk is a must experience here in Malaysia

Cameron Highlands Tea Plantation

Clan Jetties in Penang is a settlement on Penang Island and home to various Chinese clans. This reminded me of the water village we visited in Brunei.

And if you love adventure, make sure you go for a white water adventure the way we did ;)


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